Her Mother's Daughter
by Kreuger2
Summary: With a 50/50 chance of becoming an alcoholic I wanted to explore the possibility!


Apologies for the way I've written Dick, I love the guy but I don't have it in me to put him to paper!

Obviously it's not mine, if it was we would have got a forth season, and Logan and Veronica would have been together by the end!

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It had been a month since he'd seen her, they had agreed to keep their distance and as much as it pained him he was trying to respect her decision. She had come back from Virginia a different person, despite all her cynicism there had always been a glimmering hope to Veronica. It was this hope that drew him to her. More than anyone she understood the things he had seen and done, she had been there through all the crappy moments. She was the only one who recognised his misdeeds for what they were, sometimes they were acting out, sometimes revenge, whatever their motivation she was the only one who never judged him. This light, her guiding optimism was missing since her return from her summer with the FBI.

Their only meeting since her return was the first week of the semester, a chance meeting in the cafeteria. That she never told him of her return wasn't lost on him. Before she left he thought they had reached an agreement, they weren't quite friends but he had hoped that they could be someday. Her reception upon meeting him in the cafeteria suggested otherwise. She had made it clear no matter how much she tried to sugar coat it that she wasn't interested in being his friend.

Since then he hadn't seen her around, he'd have thought that she were avoiding him if it weren't for the fact that no-one else had seen her either. He had spoken to Mac a few times, she may not want anything to do with him, but that didn't stop him caring about her. Mac hadn't seen her, it was as if she had dropped off the face of the earth. With Wallace still in Africa Mac was the only old friend she had, if she hadn't seen her then where was she? The only person who might know was the last person Logan wanted to ask so instead he just kept his eyes peeled.

It was with surprise that he encountered her one day outside his sociology class. It was clear she hadn't expected to run into him there, she was wearing sunglasses looking a little worse for wear. Upon seeing him she immediately turned her back and he chose not to push it. Instead he identified the person she was here to meet, filing away the name of her new beau he walked away. This was not the Veronica he knew, Mike Carter was not Veronicas type.

It felt like a role reversal to be the one doing the private investigations, but seeing Veronica with Mike gave Logan the impression that investigations weren't on her mind right now. Mike wasn't what you'd call a model student, he was at college for the parties and the women, and if that was who Veronica was spending time with these days then it wasn't going to be difficult to keep tabs on her. He just had to find out were the biggest parties on campus were being held. For that all he had to do was ask Dick.

"Hey man where we going tonight?"

"Seriously dude, you gotta start making your own friends. I can't take this pressure."

"Don't be an ass. I assume you're heading out to a party tonight?"

"You're not actually thinking of coming are you? Someone alert the media, Logan Echolls wants to have some fun!"

"Have you seen that guy Mike Carter at any parties lately?"

"You mean that guy that's been hanging out with Veronica?" The ease with which Dick answered the question angered Logan.

"You knew about the two of them? Why didn't you tell me?" He raised his voice slightly and tried to calm himself. Dick took this opportunity to defend himself.

"You broke up with her like, months ago. What do you care who she's screwing?"

"I guess you're right." There was no point having that conversation with Dick. "So this party?"

"Sorority house, all over it!"

"Dick man, don't ever change."

"Duh."

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The party was just like every other he'd been to since starting college. Too much drink, easy women and the horny guys that were trying to get into their pants. He used to be one of those guys but somewhere over the last year he had changed. Not that he didn't like a drink, but his days of scamming on easy women were through, they were not worth the cheap thrill.

The first couple of hours passed quietly, there was no sign of Veronica or Mike and he was about to give up. He did one more round of the party looking for Dick to say goodbye when in walked the new couple. Just looking at the two of them made him feel sick, what was Veronica playing at? He knew she couldn't possibly like this guy. Maybe she's gone deep undercover for a case, or she's working to exact some kind of revenge. But watching the two of them he knew that wasn't the case. From a distance he was pretty sure that Veronica was already drunk. She never had been much of a drinker, back when they all used to hang out with Duncan and Lilly she was usually the only one sober. He always figured she was afraid of her father but when he learned of her mother's alcoholism he attributed it to that. Whatever the reason it had been a long time since he had seen Veronica intoxicated, the other day she had looked a little rough around the edges and now she was turning up at a party looking like she spent the day with Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton. There was no way he was going home just yet.

Trying to stay out of sight he spent the remainder of the evening watching the happy couple. It was a sight that made him embarrassed for her, he only hoped that when she woke up in the morning she wouldn't remember most of it. She was all over her new boyfriend like the proverbial rash, she was dancing quite provocatively for the men in the room, and when things were starting to die down she settled into a sofa to get cosy with Mike. All in all a stellar performance. It was at this point that Logan couldn't stand by and watch anymore. After the torment she went through after being drugged and raped he knew sex in public was not something she would easily be able to brush off.

"Veronica, come with me." He grabbed her arm as he said it in an effort to pull her off Mike's lap.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" For a drunk she was still able to articulate quite clearly.

"I'm not going to stand by and watch you do this, you're embarrassing yourself."

"I'm just fine, excellent in fact. Isn't this a great party?" She waved her arms around to indicate the room around her.

"Please just come with me." Again he tried to pull her away.

"Logan back off! You lost your right to tell me what to do a long time ago."

"Like you ever would have let me get away with that, I'm just trying to look out for you."

"Well stop. I don't need your help and I certainly don't want it. I am not your responsibility."

"What? So I'm supposed to stop caring just because you did?"

"Yeah, I guess you are. Stay out of my life Logan." With that she turned her back on him returning her attention to Mike.

Against his better judgement he walked away, she was feisty at the best of times, in her current state there was really no point trying to argue with her. That didn't mean he was going to leave it at that.

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The next time he saw Mike Logan wasn't prepared to leave the subject of his new girlfriend alone. He waited for him outside the classroom after their shared Sociology class, the only place he knew he'd be able to catch him alone.

"Logan Echolls, didn't my girl tell you to stay away?"

"Yeah about that, I don't think you want to be seeing Veronica anymore."

"I don't know man, she's a pretty hot piece of ass, freaky if you know what I mean?"

Logan pinned him up against the wall, "You really don't wanna talk about her like that."

"Come on man what's your problem?"

Slamming him against the wall again to reinforce his position, "I don't know what is going on between the two of you but trust me it is going to stop. It would be so much easier if you were the one to end it."

"Dude I didn't know you were still into her, hey she's all yours. I was getting bored anyway."

Giving Mike one more shove Logan let him go. One hurdle down his next step was getting Veronica to talk to him, this part was going to be more difficult.

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As it turned out he didn't have to try hard to find Veronica, in fact she ended up finding him. He was alone in his room when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to find the object of his thoughts stood before him, she didn't look happy. Without saying a word he stood back holding the door aside so she could pass him into the apartment. She went straight to the lounge area and he followed her.

"What did you say to Mike?" He was pretty sure she was a little tipsy.

"I don't know what you're…"

"Oh don't bother. He told me he didn't want to step on any toes, it could only be you. There's only one person I know so determined to stop me from being happy."

"Are you really so happy right now?" He didn't want to piss her off but part of him knew that the only way he was going to get an honest reaction out of her was to make her mad. "I've missed you Veronica."

"Don't!" She turned her back on him heading toward the mini bar. She started to pour herself a drink.

"What happened this summer?"

"I don't know what you're talking about ." She poured herself another.

"What made you so angry with the world?"

"You're changing the subject."

"What did I say to Mike? I told him to back off. Why? Because I'm trying to protect you, and if that means protecting you from yourself then so be it. This isn't you Veronica, drinking like this, something happened to you that I know you don't want to think about but drinking away the problem isn't a solution and you ought to know that better than most."

"Please this is coming from you? You're the poster child for avoidance, or do you not remember like all of high school?"

"And who was it that helped me to break the cycle?"

"Well I'm sorry Logan but I just don't need your help."

"That would be a lot more convincing if you weren't slurring your words."

"Don't you dare judge me! How do you think it was that I reached this stage?" By this time she was raising her voice. "You broke my heart, and maybe I had it coming, paybacks a bitch and all, but I trusted you."

"How many more times can I apologise for Madison Sinclair. It was a mistake, trust me you don't know how much I regret that day but I never did it to hurt you."

"I'm not talking about Madison Sinclair. As much as that upset me I did eventually come to terms with it, did you have to go after my friend?"

"I asked you if it was ok, you said it was."

"How could I say no, I walked away from you, I gave up my right to say who you could see."

"If you had said no I would have walked away, you have to know that it was always you that I wanted?"

"That doesn't even matter anymore, I've moved passed all that."

"Maybe I haven't."

The glass she had mid way to her mouth halted as she examined him, "What are you saying?"

"Come on Veronica you're smarter than that. What do you think I'm saying?"

"Don't do this to me. I can't do this with you again. How many times are we supposed to do this before we give it up as a bad idea."

"Maybe we're not supposed to give it up, maybe we're supposed to keep going until we get it right."

"I've missed you so much." She took a step closer to him.

"Me too." He took the extra step that bridged the distance and reached out to her. She fell into his arms holding on to him desperately.

"Things have got so crappy Logan." She sobbed into his shirt. He guided her into the sofa still holding on to her he waited for her to continue. "My dad hasn't spoken to me properly in months, he holds me responsible for failing the election, and he's right, it is my fault. He could be looking at a jail sentence because no matter what has gone on in his life he has always done whatever it took to protect me and how do I repay him? My selfish need for revenge cost him everything."

"You know he'll get over it eventually."

"I just kept pushing him, of course I ended up going too far. I always go too far."

"There are very few things that I am certain of, but one of those things is that your father loves you."

"Love has it's limits."

"You don't really believe that."

"I guess not. I just hate seeing that look of disappointment in his eyes every time I see him. I've pushed everybody away, Wallace has gone, I've got nobody."

"Not nobody." He tightened his grip on her.

"Can I stay here tonight? I don't want my dad to see me like this."

"Sure, I'll take the sofa, you can…"

"Can I stay with you?" He'd never seen her looking so vulnerable.

"Sure, I'll find you something to sleep in."

"Thanks."

They lay in his bed for a few hours just talking between them, she told him about her less than perfect summer with the FBI. He told her about Dicks dads trial. They talked like they hadn't been apart and eventually they fell asleep, Veronica curled up in his arms. She was still feeling lost and afraid, she had promised Logan that she would talk to her father tomorrow, a prospect that didn't fill her with too much hope. The only thing she knew for certain was that drinking away her problems wasn't any kind of answer she was looking for. After all, sharing her DNA did not mean that she had to be her mothers daughter.


End file.
